Resources

My hope is this resource page will help you as you dive deeper into a real food lifestyle. You'll find posts about eating real food in unusual places (like while hiking!), interviews with experts, and deep dive investigations into hot topics (like sugar, for example). You can browse all posts, or refine by categories below.

Thoughts of outrage, unfairness, disbelief, and ultimately grief consumed me while I was doing this investigation. A list of ingredients that are banned across the globe but still allowed for use here in the American food supply recently made news. While I have written about some of those ingredients before, this list inspired me to look a little deeper and find out how pervasive…

This is a guest post from Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe). Subway is the single largest chain restaurant in the world. That means you’ve probably eaten there at some point in your lifetime and if you are like me could possibly have 10 of these restaurants within a 1 mile radius of your house. But …

After years and years of weekend camping trips I honestly can't believe I am just now figuring out there is a proper way to pack a cooler to ensure food safety (and avoid food poisoning). So today I want to share these newfound, valuable tips because, when the precautions are so easy, why not be safe instead of sorry? Surely I'm not the only…

Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe) is a regular contributor on 100 Days of Real Food. To learn more about Vani check her out on "Our Team" page. Sugar is one of the most dangerous ingredients on the market. It's addictive, added to almost every processed food, and will make you overweight, depressed and sick if you eat too much. In fact, Americans eat…

Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe) is a regular contributor on 100 Days of Real Food. To learn more about Vani check her out on “Our Team” page. Long before I became the Food Babe I used to be addicted to Chick-fil-A. I remember the first time I tasted it – it was at the mall …

It's no secret that we've done our fair share of traveling so far this summer. If your family still has some fun trips coming up - whether by car or by plane - below are some snacks that we think are great and easy to take along. Even if you just can't (or won't) stick to a real food diet once you get to…

Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe) is a regular contributor on 100 Days of Real Food. To learn more about Vani check out “Our Team” page. ……………………….. If I could give one piece of health advice to everyone I meet I’d ask them to shop in a place where they can get the best quality groceries …

Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe) is a regular contributor on 100 Days of Real Food. To learn more about Vani check her out on “Our Team” page. Trying to get through the maze of what is offered at Starbucks can be pretty daunting – hopefully this information will clear up any nagging thoughts about what’s …

In case you missed it, we just spent five of the last six weeks out west exploring our beautiful continent, and four of those weeks were in an RV rental. And after all that fun, I am here to report on our adventure in eating real food on the road.

If there's one thing I've learned in this life, it's that writing a cookbook teaches you some serious patience! What started as a super exciting (and surreal) opportunity in July of 2012 turned into a super serious undertaking (i.e. actually turning in a finished manuscript) by March of 2013 and has now turned into an ever impending release date of August 2014! Some of…

This is a guest post by Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe). Before I get into the meat of this next investigation (no pun intended), I’d like to express my disappointment with Chipotle and Moe’s. Both of them made it extremely difficult (just like Yoforia) to get the exact ingredients in their product offerings. With marketing …

Is your child one of the 33% who suffer from asthma, allergies, ADHD, or autism? If so, you will not want to miss this post today. Robyn O'Brien, a.k.a. "the Erin Brockovich of the food industry,” believes that our kids are the "canaries in the coal mine" and that the sudden rise of these childhood ailments, especially food allergies, might be a warning sign…

As our family gears up to skip town this summer I know we aren’t the only ones with travel plans on the agenda. Packing up an entire family is a lot of work, and since our switch to real food I have yet one more travel detail to “stress” over: food of course. I not …

This is Part II of my interview with Robyn O'Brien - in Part I we discussed food allergies, diet and our food supply. And we are actually giving away 10 copies of Robyn's book The Unhealthy Truth, which shares the story of "One Mother's Shocking Investigation into the Dangers of America's Food Supply - and What Every Family Can Do to Protect Itself." It's…

This is a guest post from my husband, Jason Leake, and will be part of his new interview series for the blog. To learn more about Jason check out our team page or his post entitled “Real Food From a Man’s Perspective.” ……………………….. Recently at a family reunion in Ohio I found myself in a late-night conversation …

This is a guest post by Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe) who is a regular contributor on 100 Days of Real Food. To learn more about Vani check her out on "Our Team" page. Before you start the enjoying the hot summer weather and cool treats - there's something I have to tell you, but you first have to promise not to kill…

This is a guest post from my husband, Jason Leake, and is part of his new interview series for the blog. To learn more about Jason check out our team page or his post entitled “Real Food From a Man’s Perspective.” ……………………….. Most of us have heard at one time or another about how the food industry …

This is a guest post by Vani Hari (a.k.a. The Food Babe). ……………………….. 15 dollars for 8 pieces of chocolate….?! That’s all I could think about on a recent trip to the mall while walking past the famous chocolatier, Godiva. I mean 15 dollars for 8 pieces of what? What is Godiva doing that make these …

While we can argue that it's less expensive to cook a meal at home, the reality is that sometimes you just can't (or don't want to!), and fast food feels like the only option. Here's a list of decent meals you can find at four popular fast food chains.

by: Jason Leake Hello good people! After almost two years of editing every single post that has appeared on this blog, Lisa asked me to share my perspective on real food with you. My name is Jason, and I am Lisa’s husband. I was exposed to real food early on – my parents were hippies …

Today I’d like to introduce my very first “regular contributor” on the blog…Vani Hari a.k.a the Food Babe! Vani, a fellow “real food” blogger here in Charlotte, first caught my eye when I read her blog post entitled “Don’t Believe the Hype – There’s No Euphoria from Yoforia….” She did such a great job investigating …

It's been a while since I last wrote an update on my upcoming cookbook, and I have so much more to share now! The August 26th release date will be here before we know it, and I've been a busy little bee going back and forth (and back and forth) with my editor on all the finishing touches.

This past weekend we went on our second-ever family backpacking trip (our first time without a guide)! When we first did this last summer the guide handled all of the food, which definitely appeared to be a big undertaking.

Melanie Warner wondered how a piece of individually wrapped cheese could retain its shape, color, and texture for years. She started running this and other “food experiments” in her home, including chicken nuggets that turned to liquid mush, while simultaneously conducting research that took her to food science departments, research labs and factories around the country. A mother and former New York Times business…

Since we started our 100 Days of Real Food pledge eating at restaurants has become quite a challenge, but we have also learned a lot from the experience. Below are some tips and suggested meals if you also want to try to stick to whole foods while eating out. General Tips: Avoid bread items such …

I have a little gift for you today. It’s all the recipes in my cookbook organized by dietary need in chart form. Most of this info is already listed in the back of the book, but it’s not in a chart, which I think makes things a little easier when it comes to families with more than one …

I guess that's what happens you watch over 2 years of your hard work finally come to fruition all on one day! I am talking about my cookbook release date tomorrow of course. I just cannot believe it's finally here - eeeek!

I'm so excited to share something I've been working on just for you - a free recipe eBook! Pre-orders have been rolling in for my newest cookbook (100 Days of Real Food: Fast & Fabulous due out October 25th), so I really wanted to offer something special as a thank you.

Today I'm talking with Michael Moss, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2010, and was a finalist for the prize in 2006 and 1999. He is also the recipient of a Loeb Award and an Overseas Press Club citation. Before coming to the Times, he was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I read…

We know that healthy eating can be a challenge on the road, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it's that you don’t have to completely abandon your healthy habits when you travel. For us, that means finding ways to include green smoothies in our travel plans.

My Cookbooks

I’m so excited to share all the info with you about the three cookbooks in my 100 Days of Real Food series. Each cookbook is unique and features its own content, from breaking down the science behind grains, to providing…